Braids: A History Lesson

Ahhh braids, so pretty to look at aren't they? On a real tip though, who the hell sat there one day and realized they could do this with hair? I have not done my research yet, but I think it most likely has to do with weaving. If you can weave material, you can certainly apply the same concept to hair right? When did this all start though? Who takes credit? We are going to break it down right now, in a history lesson.......


Braids

• Defintion: Interlacing of 3 or more strands of hair
• Origin: Africa, 30,000 b.c
• Purpose: For many tribes this was done to help display their role in a tribe, marital status, or wealth, a quick means of communication. Due to the length of time some braid styles took, it became a social gathering among people as well, where people of a particular tribe could meet and talk among one another

Styles

French Braids

• Defintion: Three stranded braid style, where all the hair is interlaced near the scalp and cascades down towards the nape of the neck
• Origin: NOT FRANCE! hahah surprising huh? First depictions of this style were seen thousands of years ago in Greek paintings.

featuring my buddy Amy @jadorebeautyblog.com 

Corn Rows

• Defintion: Several rows of braids close to the scalp 
• Origin: Earliest findings are from 3000 b.c

Amy @jadorebeautyblog.com

Box Braids

• Definition: Individual sections or plaits, divided by small squared off boxes, tapering off with a braid.
• Origin: Dates back as far as 3500 bc Egypt, but became popularized in pop culture with Janet Jackson (think Poetic Justice) 

Final Thoughts: 
There has been so much hype and lets face it, controversy about braids. I am not a scholar on the issues of cultural appropriation but I do understand it and respect that it shouldn't happen, although sadly it does. Soooo WTF is cultural appropriation? Simply put, it is the exploitation of something from a culture that is often deemed inferior. The "superior" culture takes over whatever trend there is, this could be anything, and exploits it for their own, without crediting the culture from which it came from. So where the hell do braids come along in all of this? Kylie Jenner comes to mind when thinking about this. She often has been accused of adopting many things from African American culture and seen as "edgy" for doing it. However, when someone from the African American community does the same thing they have been doing for years, it is either disregarded completely or has a negative stigma attached to it. I do not think this is necessarily Kylie's fault, but rather society's. I do, however, think Kylie should speak out more about the many issues the African American community faces. I say this because when you embrace an entire culture, you can not just embrace the good, you have to embrace the hardships too. That goes for anyone interested in another culture! You can not just adopt the cute things from a culture without seeing what it represents to someone else. It is disrespectful and totally ignorant. There is no harm in picking up a book and reading about a culture before you decide to represent it, even if you think its a subtle representation, its meaning is often not so subtle at all.